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Monday, 7 November 2016

Sad! Suspended Lawmaker Abdulmumin Jibrin Goes On Exile

Suspended former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has gone on exile.

He has vowed never to return to Nigeria unless his safety can be guaranteed.

The embattled lawmaker who left Nigeria for London last week to receive
award and take his anti-corruption campaign to international community,
made his decision public in an interview aired on the London based Ben
TV, on Monday.

Jibrin explained that his decision to flee the country was based on
threats he has continued to receive from some of his colleagues whom he
accused of budget fraud.
According to him, a cabal in the House led by Speaker Yakubu Dogara,
Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun, Whip Alhassan Doguwa and Minority Leader Leo
Ogor are using Herma Hembe to threaten him and members of his family.

The lawmaker also said the initial silence of the President on the
matter was a blessing in disguise because if the President had spoken
much earlier he would have been accused of using him to fight the House
Leadership, saying the time is now ripe and the crisis mature enough for
the President to break his silence.

Jibrin said, “The situation currently at hand is different from the
initial stage of the crisis. The silence of the presidency is no longer
sending the right message to Nigerians and the international community.”

He also revealed that he recently wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari,
seeking audience to brief him about monumental fraud in the 2016 budget,
individual and systemic corruption in the House and some vital
information on how to check corruption in the House and further fraud in
budget process and reform the House for the good of our country.

According to him, over 2,000 fraudulent projects worth over N284 billion
were inserted into 2016 budget, saying such fraud never happened in the
history of the Nigerian legislature.

He also exonerated himself of any wrongdoing in the appropriation
process, saying he has been in the House for 5 years and has never
abused his office or corruptly enrich himself.

While reiterating his resolve to continue with the anti corruption
campaign, he revealed that he would now take the campaign to
international stage by reaching out to foreign governments, parliaments,
media, civil society groups and Nigerians in Diaspora, to press for the
arrest and prosecution of Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa, Ogor
and other members of the corrupt cabal in the House of Representatives.

When contacted, the Special Adviser to the Speaker, Mr. Turaki Hassan
said, he would “not dignify the suspended lawmaker with a response.”